Native plants · Nebraska

Native plants of Boone County

65 plant species are recorded as native to Nebraska in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Boone County by USDA PLANTS. 27 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness. 1 more species is listed as both native and introduced and kept in a separate section.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Boone County, Nebraska

PLANTS records only 27 garden-ready natives here (under 30). County records are thin in some places; the Nebraska list is a useful second check.

Native species: 65 Typical Nebraska county: 169 (median of 93 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 27 Typical Nebraska county: 81
Share by type (all 65 native species): Percent of the 65 native species in each growth type

Tree 9% (6)
Shrub 6% (4)
Wildflower (forb) 65% (42)
Grass or grass-like 14% (9)
Vine 6% (4)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (65%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (14%).

Recorded native ranges can include long-established populations that spread from gardens; check your state’s native plant society list for local guidance. How native status is decided.

ZIP codes mainly in this county fall in USDA hardiness zone 5b (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 27

Native species with PLANTS growing records (height, light, moisture, minimum temperature). “—” means PLANTS has no value.

Garden-ready native plants of Boone County, Nebraska
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
American plum Prunus americana	Tree	24 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
American vetch Vicia americana	Vine	1.3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
awlfruit sedge Carex stipata	Grass or grass-like	3.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3b
broadleaf cattail Typha latifolia	Wildflower (forb)	5 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3b
bur oak Quercus macrocarpa	Tree	100 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
chokecherry Prunus virginiana	Tree	25 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
common hackberry Celtis occidentalis	Tree	60 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 2b
devil's beggartick Bidens frondosa	Wildflower (forb)	4 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 12a
eastern woodland sedge Carex blanda	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 4b
golden tickseed Coreopsis tinctoria	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 12b
green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica	Tree	80 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 2b
hairy false goldenaster Heterotheca villosa	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4a
Indianhemp Apocynum cannabinum	Wildflower (forb)	3.3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3a
leadplant Amorpha canescens	Shrub	4 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 3b
nodding beggartick Bidens cernua	Wildflower (forb)	3.2 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 12a
peachleaf willow Salix amygdaloides	Tree	60 ft	Sun	High	Zone 4a
Philadelphia fleabane Erigeron philadelphicus	Wildflower (forb)	2.8 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4b
porcupinegrass Hesperostipa spartea	Grass or grass-like	4 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
prairie fleabane Erigeron strigosus	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4b
purple locoweed Oxytropis lambertii	Wildflower (forb)	1.4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
purplestem beggarticks Bidens connata	Wildflower (forb)	3.2 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 12a
sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
scarlet globemallow Sphaeralcea coccinea	Wildflower (forb)	1.5 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
soapweed yucca Yucca glauca	Shrub	1 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4b
threelobe beggarticks Bidens tripartita	Wildflower (forb)	3.5 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 12a
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera	Wildflower (forb)	3.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
western snowberry Symphoricarpos occidentalis	Shrub	3 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 3b

Other native species recorded here 38

PLANTS has no growing records for these, so light, moisture, height and zone filters cannot include them. Many are wild species seldom sold by nurseries.

big devils beggartick Bidens vulgata
bigbract verbena Verbena bracteata
bog yellowcress Rorippa palustris
buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
Canadian anemone Anemone canadensis
Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
clammy groundcherry Physalis heterophylla
common milkweed Asclepias syriaca
Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
eastern poison ivy Toxicodendron radicans
foxtail barley Hordeum jubatum
Great Plains flatsedge Cyperus lupulinus
green carpetweed Mollugo verticillata
heartleaf four o'clock Mirabilis nyctaginea
hedge false bindweed Calystegia sepium
Heller's rosette grass Dichanthelium oligosanthes
hoary verbena Verbena stricta
ivyleaf groundcherry Physalis hederifolia
large beardtongue Penstemon grandiflorus
light poppymallow Callirhoe alcaeoides
longleaf groundcherry Physalis longifolia
narrowleaf four o'clock Mirabilis linearis
narrowleaf purple coneflower Echinacea angustifolia
Nuttall's sensitive-briar Mimosa nuttallii
prairie groundsel Packera plattensis
prairie rose Rosa arkansana
prairie spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis
ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
shortbeak sedge Carex brevior
silverleaf Indian breadroot Pediomelum argophyllum
spotted sandmat Chamaesyce maculata
stiffstem flax Linum rigidum
swamp verbena Verbena hastata
velvetweed Oenothera curtiflora
witchgrass Panicum capillare
woodbine Parthenocissus vitacea
yellowseed false pimpernel Lindernia dubia

Also listed as native and introduced here 1

PLANTS labels these species both native and introduced in this state: some forms are native and others were brought in from elsewhere. Most gardeners should choose plants from the main list.

Kentucky bluegrassPoa pratensis

Compared with Nebraska

The typical county is the median of the 93 Nebraska counties with PLANTS county records; the statewide figure counts every species native anywhere in the state. More species is not better or worse: counties differ in size, habitat and how thoroughly they have been surveyed.

Native species counts, Boone County and Nebraska
Measure	Boone County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	65	169	1,131
Garden-ready natives	27	81	452
Tree	6	—	68
Shrub	4	—	48
Wildflower (forb)	42	—	687
Grass or grass-like	9	—	253
Vine	4	—	46
Fern	0	—	29

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Boone County.

Antelope County, NE 91 garden-ready
Greeley County, NE 94 garden-ready
Madison County, NE 36 garden-ready
Nance County, NE 61 garden-ready
Platte County, NE 79 garden-ready

Source & data date

Source: USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).; Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.; USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
Citation: USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.; Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
Data date: Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
Zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (2023) ZIP table: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed November 3, 2026. Plant zones on this site are our estimate, not the official map.
Scope: Boone County (county FIPS 31011), Nebraska. 65 native species from PLANTS county distribution records; garden-ready = species with a PLANTS characteristics record.
Method: A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources

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